With the May 21 Tripartite Elections looming large, there is fear
that most members of Parliament (MPs) may not retain their seats, which
analysts say affects the performance of the august House, Nation on Sunday can
report.

The
observed trend since the first democracy election in 1994 shows that Parliament
has a low retention rate.

Analysts
say changing MPs in every election affects the institutional memory of the
august House necessary for the oversight function of the National Assembly.

The assumption that most MPs are unlikely to return makes sense looking at the trend of retention.

Majority of them may not return to the august House after May 21it

Figures
sourced from Parliament show that out of 193 MPs in 1999, only 61 retained
their seats. The numbers kept dropping to 49 in 2004 and 47 in 2009. The last
election saw only 46 legislators returning to the august House.

According
to former speaker of the National Assembly and author of a book focusing on
Malawi Parliament, Henry Chimunthu Banda, the low turnout maybe an indication
of democracy at work, but the performance of the House is affected due to loss
of institutional memory.

He
argues that it takes time to train a new MP to familiarise themselves with
practices and traditions of the House, meaning that half of the term is more or
less for orientation or learning.

“Those
that are retained have an advantage over new MPs who have to undergo a lot of
training. But, again, we are assigning these MPs to various institutions
locally and abroad and it becomes an advantage to repeating parliamentarians
because they have a better understanding and are likely to perform better,” he
said.

Speaking
from experience, Chimunthu Banda said Parliament is a House of procedures which
deals with technical matters requiring familiarity.

Long-serving
parliamentarian Uladi Mussa agreed with Chimunthu Banda that repeating MPs have
performed better in the House.

“There
are few new ones who perform better. If it comes to contribution in the House,
mostly it is old-timers who lead. The same applies to contributions to bills.
But

is up to voters to decide, personally I
wished we had more MPs coming back,” he said.

Why there is low turnout?

In a telephone interview, political
scientist Nandini Patel attributed the low turnout to voters’ frustration with
a candidate’s failure to implement the exaggerated promises during campaign.

She also blamed constituents, saying they
may not have a complete understanding of the role of an MP, hence they end up
misjudging them. Patel said some MPs do a great job in committees and
legislative processes of the House, but this does not count much to a voter who
has wrong understanding of the role of an MP.

So far, only two parliamentarians—Uladi
Mussa, representing Salima South and Abubaker M’baya of Mangochi East—have been
in Parliament since 1994. Mussa has retained his seat under three different
party tickets—UDF, Maravi Peoples Party (MPP) and PP while M’baya has been UDF
throughout.

The cases of Mussa and M’baya are
interesting. Mussa is quite an outspoken character in the National Assembly
while M’baya is usually a missing voice in the House.

“In terms of strategy, the two have a
better understanding of the things that locals in their constituencies need. By
addressing people’s needs, they earn the respect of constituents. They are
viewed as benefactors by their constituents. While certain gestures, such as
buying coffins are beyond

do, in the eyes of the locals, carries
more weight,” explained Blantyre–based political and social commentator Martin
Chiphwanya. what an MP is supposed to

According to Chiphwanya religion could be
another factor that has enabled Mussa and M’baya to easily retain their seats.

“A religious connection cannot entirely be
ruled out. Being staunch Muslims in constituencies with a good Muslim
population, the two may most likely benefit from the vote of fellow Muslim
believers as a show of oneness and solidarity” he observed.

Nice Trust executive director Ollen
Mwalubunju also thinks the voter needs to be empowered to fully understand the
role of an MP at the same time aspiring candidates should desist from promising
the moon.

“I think most MPs are not voted back
because they are seen to have failed even when they are doing right because in
the mind of the voter an MP has to buy coffins, pay school fees and other stuff
unrelated to their job. This is where we need civic education,” he said.

While poor retention is widely spread,
constituencies in cities are even worse. With the exception of Blantyre
Malabada, which has maintained the MP since 2004, they rarely maintain an MP
for more than a term.

Constituencies which have changed MPs
every election include Mzuzu City, Zomba City, Blantyre City South East,
Blantyre City Central, Blantyre City South, Lilongwe City Centre, Lilongwe City
West, Lilongwe City South West, Lilongwe City South East and Mzimba Solola.

Asked why city constituencies and those
located within district headquarters are likely to change MPs compared to rural
ones, both Chiphwanya and Patel attributed it to constituents’ level of
knowledge and competition among candidates.

In his book, Malawi Parliament:
Origins, Reforms and Practices, Chimunthu Banda acknowledges the challenge
facing MPs in urban areas due to what he terms ‘the spirit of trying something
new’ thus constituents change representatives in every election.

Random interviews with residents in Mzuzu
City, Mzimba Solola and the capital Lilongwe revealed mixed feelings on why
they often changed MPs. Most of them cited poor performance as reason for
‘recalling’ MPs.

Said a Mzuzu-based voter who has participated in the last three elections: “I do not feel the presence of the MP here in the city, hence I keep voting for new faces hoping there will be some change, but so far I have not seen any change hence I avoid voting for the incumbent.”